Unlike when he first came here in a daze, Gu Zuo clearly felt different during this return trip.
The Void-Breaking Shuttle broke through the atmosphere and flew away. Gu Zuo’s psychic power connected to the shuttle, and he instantly discovered that this world was getting smaller and smaller at speeds visible to the naked eye. The tiny planet seemed like a single point of light. In a split second, it had already disappeared from view.
Following this, the surroundings turned gray.
Gu Zuo was stunned.
He knew that the world he originated from was a celestial body. He originally believed that, once they flew away, the place where they should’ve proceeded towards was outer space and the wider universe... In the universe, shouldn’t they have seen the bright and resplendent stars? Why was it a void of gray instead?
Gongyi Tianheng quickly said: “Maybe this place is the primal chaos.”
Gu Zuo responded: “The primal chaos is the theory of martial artists, and the universe is the theory of science and technology. They should be the same, right?”
Tianheng smiled: “What martial artists and ordinary people ought to see are different. Where the Void-Breaking Shuttle travels through should be spacetime.”
Gu Zuo suddenly understood.
Yes, what martial artists and ordinary people observed were different. What the naked eye could perceive and what science and technology showed were also certainly different. The natural color of the primal chaos was probably a type of hazy gray, which threaded together time and space. The universe that ordinary people saw should’ve been the true appearance of a certain region nested within spacetime itself.
However, when the Void-Breaking Shuttle used the power of spacetime to push its way through, this true appearance was hidden behind superimposed layers of spacetime. It was impossible to see even the distorted image. To say nothing of its true appearance. If anyone wanted to see the true appearance of the primal chaos, they would probably need to cultivate the power of spacetime, raise their strength to even higher realms, or have an astonishing secret skill attached to their eyes...
With such thoughts, Gu Zuo didn’t withdraw his psychic power.
Since they already entered the primal chaos, he couldn’t let his guard down.
Currently, there was an even more important matter that required close attention.
All of a sudden, Gu Zuo’s heart shivered. He abruptly shouted: “Big brother, be careful!”
Tianheng naturally remained vigilant the entire time. After he heard Gu Zuo’s warning, he promptly discharged qi energy from his whole body. In a flash, it formed a densely-woven cover of power that protected him. At the exact same time, the Heaven-Concealing Battle-Crazed Regalia also bloomed with intense, black rays of light!
A gray qi stream barreled towards them from somewhere in the primal chaos. In the blink of an eye, it passed through the gap, and slammed right into Tianheng’s body!
It was like Tianheng had been smashed by a gigantic hammer, and his entire body was wracked with intense pain. Although only his chest was hit, the qi stream rapidly spread outwards, and wrapped around his whole body in a split second!
This energy was too terrifying. Even though it was obstructed by the Void-Breaking Shuttle, weakened by the cloak, and further mitigated as it penetrated the qi energy protecting Tianheng’s body, it was still incomparably powerful once it finally reached him. It basically wasn’t something that his present physical body could bear.
As one could well imagine, at this moment, Tianheng seemed to hear the painful creaking and groaning of his bones. He also sensed the cracking and snapping of the muscles and sinews throughout his body — It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the skin split open, the muscles tore apart, and the blood overflowed.
The radiance of the five elements quickly flowed back from other places. As energy poured into Tianheng’s body, his qi emissions slightly eased. Moreover, Tianheng’s willpower was strong enough. After taking on this qi stream, he swallowed medicinal pills extremely quickly to improve his body before the next one appeared. At the same time, his inner cultivation method operated even faster, constantly squeezing out the potential of his Tiandu Body.
If someone looked at Tianheng’s qi oceans at this moment, they would discover that the manifestations within his qi oceans were also undergoing intense changes.
Within that originally reddish-gold qi ocean, a heartbeat seemed to arise from the nurtured object. It pulsated rhythmically. As for the qi ocean that held a blood river that hung upside-down, the blood river surged and roiled. Its speed was at least ten times faster than before! In addition, there was an ordinary-looking qi ocean where dozens of drifting blood pearls bobbed up and down. They seemed like stars in the sky. At this time, these stars were continuously absorbing threads of light-gray qi streams. Under the effects of the qi streams, the blood pearls grew slightly larger and their color and luster became even more bright and vivid.
Numerous strands of profound qi surged up from all directions. Due to the effects of the profound qi, the qi oceans were being incessantly filled up. The reddish-gold and reddish-black powers were suddenly extracted and combined with those threads of light-gray qi streams, transforming into an even hazier type of power. It constantly battered and shuttled through Tianheng’s flesh. Amid this process, his muscles were also becoming firmer and denser. His strength was becoming increasingly fearsome.
After a long while, the feelings of pain in Tianheng’s body were no longer as intense. Meanwhile, what it produced was an incredibly strong physical body. He could sense that his own strength had advanced. A dark light flashed in his eyes.
Gu Zuo saw that the first wave had passed, and it appeared that his family’s big brother didn’t have any major issues. He faintly sighed in relief, and couldn’t help saying: “Big brother, how are you doing?”
Tianheng’s tone was gentle: “No problems. Sure enough, after tempering my body with the power of chaos, the results are exceptionally good.”
— It was just that, for the time being, he still wasn’t able to strike away the power of chaos from the Void-Breaking Shuttle.
Fortunately, after entering the primal chaos, the initial power of chaos was relatively thin. The closer they travelled towards the center, the more concentrated it would become. At that time, his physical body wouldn’t be able to block the gap. He would need to strike back.
It just so happened that now was the perfect opportunity to temper his body.
Gu Zuo didn’t dwell on this.
Since Tianheng could adapt and there were indeed great benefits, although his heart ached at the thought of big brother’s suffering, he definitely wouldn’t worry excessively.
It was because he understood big brother’s pursuit of strength. He also knew that, on the path of martial arts, the more one was willing to bear hardships, the greater the harvests they could obtain... Even though he himself carried such a powerful inheritance, Gu Zuo used to refine medicine at all hours for many days in a row. While he squeezed out the potential in his psychic power every time, there were many instances when he failed.
Everything was only for the sake of making himself stronger!
Afterwards, Gu Zuo still monitored those gray qi streams. At the same time, he remained mindful of Gu Qi and Zhao Ji. After all, the two of them were just ordinary people. Although they had the protection of the Void-Breaking Shuttle and the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects, he couldn’t be so careless. This was to prevent any accidents from happening — That would be a terrible thing.
While he multi-tasked, Tianheng was already suffering through another pummeling from the energy of the primal chaos.
This time around, because he experienced it once, he was even more calm in dealing with it. After passing through layers of defenses and being weakened, the power of chaos would automatically erode the physical body. If one could withstand it, they could absorb these energies through their qi ocean. In addition, it would strengthen the body and improve the quality of profound qi during the absorption process. If one couldn’t withstand it, the body would be corroded. As such, they would need to rely on medicinal pills for treatment and to increase their resistance — After adapting, they would naturally be capable of utilizing the power of chaos.
Not long after, the intense pain ended. Once more, Tianheng’s physical body was strengthened. Within his qi oceans, the quality of the surging profound qi also improved.
During this brief period of time, his overall strength had already progressed again.
Tianheng stayed calm and collected. He carefully experienced the feelings brought about by the power of chaos.
Perhaps, it was because ambient qi was originally a gift of the power of chaos. Both sides came from the same source. As a result, though the power of chaos was incredibly hard to absorb, so long as his willpower was resolute, he could make use of it somewhat.
Tianheng had been entertaining a thought for a while.
Hypothetically speaking... While he was at the Immortal Realm, if he allowed his profound qi to carry the characteristics of these portions of the power of chaos, could he possess the strength to issue challenges across a major realm at this stage?
One had to know that, within the same major realm, those of different minor realms could bypass ranks and battle stronger foes. However, every major realm was a transformation of one’s internal qi. If nothing unexpected happened, it was almost impossible to bypass ranks of the major realms.
However, if one’s profound qi carried the characteristics of the power of chaos, that would undoubtedly be something “unexpected”.
The advancement of a major realm wasn’t that easy. Moreover, it was a waste for Tianheng, who had the aptitude of an all-star prodigy, to advance without sufficient accumulations. But if he didn’t advance, when he faced enemies of higher realms, he would be restrained by the other party. This would be undoubtedly dangerous for him.
Thus, wasn’t this an exceptional opportunity?
With this thought in mind, Tianheng’s inner cultivation method operated even faster.
In addition, no one saw that some indistinct qi streams were joining and circulating within his six qi oceans. They seemed to form another type of peculiar connection.
Having gone through the events of the modern world, Tianheng surfed the internet and read countless modern works. This greatly increased his knowledge base, and even opened up new horizons in his perspective of things.
Maybe this type of knowledge couldn’t allow him to develop a new type of martial skill, but because of these experiences, he gained a kind of enlightenment. What’s more, because of certain books that seemed to belong to the legends of Daoist Immortals, he had a clear direction towards his own self-created path of martial arts.
Not to mention that coming to this modern world allowed him to fully hold his little pharmacist in his hands, just the fact that he grasped his own path forward definitely made this a worthwhile trip.
In Tianheng’s mind, he naturally came up with ways to cultivate after the Immortal Realm. His self-created body cultivation method also suddenly evolved at this moment, forming a kind of abstruse and profound inspiration!
Because it was also like this, even though the six qi oceans originally absorbed profound qi from his meridians, not only were they revolving around the central qi ocean, the connection between them had become incomparably mysterious and unfathomable.
Imperceptibly, while they almost seemed to stand independently of one another, there also appeared to be another type of cycle.
On the contrary, Gu Zuo wasn’t aware of these things. However, through the guardian contract shared between him and Tianheng, he found that his dear big brother’s qi emissions were growing more and more powerful. In addition, amid this formidable strength, there was also an energy that caused his heart to palpitate. This energy was so frightening that his heartbeat raced endlessly.
After taking a deep breath, Gu Zuo slowly calmed his own state of mind. Shortly thereafter, a trace of rapturous joy bubbled up.
Under the onslaught of the power of chaos, Tianheng was able to turn all that pain into his own gains. Sure enough, his big brother was worthy of the Tiandu Body!
It was no wonder that the heavens were so envious of him...
Tianheng continued to improve.
Every streak of the power of chaos made his qi emissions even more terrifying. It also made him feel even more dignified — This sense of dignity didn’t come from his temperament or appearance. Nor did it come from his aptitude or identity. Rather, it seemed to flow from within outwards, and conveyed from his qi oceans and his physical body.
Gu Zuo’s heart stirred. Suddenly, he understood something.
Right. What his big brother absorbed was the power of chaos! The power of chaos was the source of all ambient qi. Of course, the ancestor of all qi was extremely dignified and venerated! The things that other people used to temper their bodies were heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Meanwhile his big brother used the power of chaos. As such, were there other tempering resources better than this? The physical body that had been tempered by the power of chaos was naturally of a higher level!
Gu Zuo couldn’t help feeling happy.
Right now, it was still insufficient...
But so long as big brother could absorb enough power of chaos during this journey, the more perfect his body and the more dignified his internal qi. When he confronted enemies in the future, even if his realm was inadequate, the imposing aura and suppressive might he released could intimidate foes, stifle the other party’s fighting spirit, and even manipulate the other side’s actions — Even if it was only for an instant, he could flee for his life or restrain the enemy!
Tianheng had the same thoughts. His self-created inner cultivation method, which combined his new understanding, also displayed its power. When he absorbed these energies, he became stronger than ever.
He intentionally pulled this hazy, gray power into the central qi ocean. This caused the light-gray color of the main qi ocean to become deeper than that of the surrounding five qi oceans.
T/N: Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.
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